Like every other aspect of life in prison, the food is dreary, monotonous and, with few exceptions, relentlessly bad. It bears little resemblance in color, aroma, taste, and texture to real food. Describing meals in the Northeastern facility where he is incarcerated, Joshua says, “There is no one here who would eat this three times a day by choice or feed it to their family on the outside,” capturing the general sentiment among those who have spent time in prison.

Globally, WhatsApp has given farmers a way to alert customers to what’s available, what’s in short supply, and why the price of eggs has crept up yet again; price increases come with transparency on the reasons why. This communication has made the app indispensable for many working in global agriculture—can it continue to run this way?

Fears of households who rely on federal nutrition programs are inching towards reality, and anti-hunger advocates and folks who rely on federal nutrition programs are saying the uncertainty about the impact of these cuts is at an unprecedented high. But the ultimate devastating result of cutting some portion or all of these programs is the fear that they might never come back.

In the United States, dairy cows are almost exclusively raised for dairy production. In other parts of the world, though, meat from dairy herds is prized for its flavor and texture—plus, there’s an idea that it’s a more sustainable option, because you’re getting more food for the resources used. Is the US finally catching on?

Everything you need to know about the beverage in the spotlight.

Pets are major contributors to carbon emissions and resource over-use.

Allegations of price collusions among the potato cartel reveal the new, sophisticated methods food corporations are using to keep prices high.

Kelton O’Connor wants inmates to form cooperatives, helping them to become regenerative farmers, sea urchin foragers, and kelp forest restorers working on prison land in California’s prime Mediterranean climate.

Words of hope, intelligence, and know-how from Michael Pollan, Teresa Romero, Ashanté M. Reese, and more.

A gardener and community herbalist in Ithaca, New York, ​Amanda​ is the creator of ​Rootwork Herbals​ and ​​part of ​Black Farmer Fund​’s first cohort of fundees. She is laser focused on creating places where BIPOC communities can reconnect with the land, plants, and themselves, but for years has endured horrible racist and sexist discrimination and harassment on her farm, from no other than her next door neighbor.

The practice of developing untouched forests makes the food system the leading cause of biodiversity loss worldwide. “Rewilding” is the process of converting farmland back into the natural ecosystem, and it has great potential to prevent extinctions and sequester CO2 emitted into the atmosphere by human activities. But the process is time consuming, complex, and can be harmful if done without proper considerations.

An estimate, informed by USDA data, suggests that ​99 percent​ of livestock grown in the US is raised in a CAFO—a concentrated animal feeding operation. This industry presents itself as a way to produce a lot of food while keeping costs down. But any cost saved by the consumer is a cost borne by the CAFOs’ neighboring communities, the environment, local economies, and even the contracted farmers themselves. All across the country, communities are pushing back.

When it comes to how climate change is impacting our food, there are the short-, medium-, and long-term impacts, all of which are different, but the fact remains: the very earth in which we grow our food is less equipped for the job than it was last century. Still, as our atmosphere gets more carbon-rich, all is not lost.

The food system contributes 1/3 of all greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, yet it’s drastically underfunded when it comes to climate change solutions. Why? Unsurprisingly, there’s no single reason; rather, a host of factors contribute to this neglect, including economics, political will, consumer behavior, and the broad nature of the global food system.